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Manchester United are a club entrenched in history and arguably the biggest in the world, but have lost some of their grandeur in the years after Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure as a string of top managers have struggled to replicate the Scotsman’s success – the latest of which being Jose Mourinho, who was sacked on Tuesday after two-and-a-half years at the helm.
The Red Devils have set many unwanted records this season – they have taken their worst points haul (26) after 17 Premier League games since 1990/91 and have also allowed Liverpool their biggest points advantage in history at this stage of a season, with the Reds currently a massive 19 points ahead and at the top of the table.
Mourinho is renowned for his contentious encounters with the media, particularly following a defeat, and has no doubt rubbed players, pundits and fans alike up the wrong way this season including Paul Pogba: both Mourinho’s greatest asset and nemesis at Old Trafford. Which of the two is to blame, though?
Pogba endured a turbulent relationship with the former Chelsea boss right from his return to the club two months after the Portuguese’s appointment and such off-the-pitch controversies have often been at the route of United’s match-day failures, with the midfielder falling in and out of favour to the extreme that he has been handed the armband on occasion but also dropped for consecutive games – the latter of which were the two matches preceding Mourinho’s sacking.
Pogba has proved on the international stage that he is a top-class midfielder, but he has very rarely been able to replicate those dominant performances in red, begging the question as to why he looks a shadow of himself in the Premier League.
Joining United for a world record fee (at the time), Pogba was billed as the “heart of the club for the next decade” by Mourinho himself, but has thus far been unable to find a rhythm.
The 25-year-old is adept at carrying the ball and is capable of beating three or four players with one of his trademark power-dribbles but, after a mixed 2016/17, it was clear he desperately needed a dominant holding midfielder alongside him, who would enable him to roam freely with minimal defensive duties. Nemanja Matic was pinched from Chelsea and we thought we would now finally be seeing the Pogba that tore up Serie A.
Another season passed and something still wasn’t quite right – hence the signing of Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, who was acquired to do all of the World Cup winner’s running. The Brazilian has been a flop and Matic hasn’t fared too well either but, nevertheless, they are exactly the kind of midfield partners Pogba needs to maximise his own output – yet he hasn’t improved.
Additionally, the 14-time league champions’ attack has also been constructed to play to Pogba’s strengths – the signing of Alexis Sanchez, and the Chilean’s ability to cut in from the left as opposed to staying on the wing, should benefit the number 6 hugely as he has a tendency to drift out wide.
Romelu Lukaku, also, should give Pogba a focal point to play off of and enable him to score goals for fun, as he did with the Old Lady, but he has scored just three this campaign.
With hundreds of millions spent on a team specifically for him, the former Juventus man still can’t justify his £89m price tag and at this point he qualifies as a bigger mistake than hiring Mourinho.
Pogba was meant to be the spine of the team and, after he was dropped to the bench for a second consecutive week, the team was apathetic in stopping rivals Liverpool as they conceded the most shots in a Premier League game this season (36). The team will never perform without the star man and if the star man isn’t producing enough or failing to show an appropriate attitude to warrant a starting spot, then they are doomed to fail.
Pogba is far from an innocent party in this saga and it’s pretty safe to say he won’t be staying in touch with his former boss now they have finally parted ways.
Not everyone was pleased with Mourinho’s sacking. Check out American Soccer Fan’s hilarious take on it in the video above…